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Flint Hill contractor Eddie Fletcher enters plea in embezzlement case

by | Aug 28, 2026

focus on hammer, group of files on judge table covered with dust - concept of pending old cases or work at judicial court.
(Courtesy/Adobe Stock)

Agrees to never work as a contractor

A Flint Hill contractor accused of taking more than $450,000 from a Woodville couple for a home renovation he never finished took a plea deal Tuesday, agreeing to repay the money and never work as a contractor again.

“The bottom line of the agreement is no jail today, and no jail ever if you comply,” Judge Robert Smith told Fletcher from the bench. 

Edward “Eddie” Fletcher Jr., owner of E. Fletcher Construction, pleaded no contest last week to embezzlement, a charge stemming from his unfinished remodel of Robert and Alexandra McKee’s home in Woodville. 

Fletcher was arrested in February 2025 after the McKees ended their construction contract with him and filed charges. The couple said they paid him more than $450,000 to remodel their Woodville home starting in March 2023, but by August 2024 little progress had been made and no building permits had been filed.

At a September 2025 hearing, Robert McKee testified that when he asked Fletcher about the missing permits, Fletcher blamed a secretary who, McKee later learned, didn’t exist. The McKees also paid Fletcher more than $30,000 for appliances that were ordered but never paid for, according to testimony from Capt. James Jones of the Rappahannock County Sheriff’s Office.

Fletcher paid back $165,000 of the money he’s accused of taking as of last week, and another $185,000 is secured through a deed of trust on his and his wife’s $1.1 million home in Flint Hill. He has 18 months to pay that balance.

Commonwealth’s Attorney Art Goff said Fletcher has “about a dozen” other cases related to failed construction work in Rappahannock civil court and in other jurisdictions. 

Goff said the McKees are “in full agreement” with the plea agreement, and that he was “happy to broker an agreement where they received a substantial sum.”

Fletcher also agreed to give up contracting for good, and the plea agreement bars him from taking on contracting jobs or applying for a new contractor’s license. If he still holds a contractor’s license, the agreement says, he must surrender it. He is allowed to work in construction as an employee, provided he does not handle clients’ money.

“Whether he’s swinging a hammer on a construction crew, that’s not the concern,” Goff said. “Being a wage employee is not the same as being a contractor.”

If Fletcher maintains good behavior, does not breach the terms of the plea agreement for five years, and pays back the remaining balance, the charge will be reduced to a misdemeanor. He still would not be allowed to work as a contractor.

Author

  • Ireland Hayes

    Ireland joined Foothills Forum as a full-time reporter in 2023 after graduating from the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication with a degree in journalism and minor in music. As a student, she gained valuable experience in reporter and editor positions at The Red & Black, an award-winning student newspaper, and contributed to Grady Newsource and the Athens Banner-Herald. She spent three years as an editorial assistant at Georgia Magazine, UGA’s quarterly alumni publication, and interned with The Bitter Southerner.
    Growing up in a small town in Southeast Georgia, Ireland developed a deep appreciation for rural communities and the unique stories they have to tell. She completed undergraduate research on news deserts, ghost papers and the ways rural communities in Georgia are being forced to adapt to a lack of local news. This research further sparked her interest in a career contributing to the preservation of local and rural news.
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By Ireland Hayes

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Ireland joined Foothills Forum as a full-time reporter in 2023 after graduating from the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication with a degree in journalism and minor in music. As a student, she gained valuable experience in reporter and editor positions at The Red & Black, an award-winning student newspaper, and contributed to Grady Newsource and the Athens Banner-Herald. She spent three years as an editorial assistant at Georgia Magazine, UGA’s quarterly alumni publication, and interned with The Bitter Southerner. Growing up in a small town in Southeast Georgia, Ireland developed a deep appreciation for rural communities and the unique stories they have to tell. She completed undergraduate research on news deserts, ghost papers and the ways rural communities in Georgia are being forced to adapt to a lack of local news. This research further sparked her interest in a career contributing to the preservation of local and rural news.